PAST SIMPLE, PAST CONTINUOUS, PAST PERFECT – INTRODUCTION

PAST CONTINUOUS vs PAST SIMPLE

WAS / WASN’T + VERB+ING

WERE /WEREN’T
e.g. WAS/WASN’T + WORKING / LEAVING
WERE/WEREN’T
EXAMPLES:

The kids returned home when I was preparing pizza.

What were you doing when the doorbell rang?

At 7 o’clock I was doing my maths homework.

I was cleaning the bathroom while my brother was vacuuming the house.

COMPLETE THE SENTENCES:

Yesterday at midday I .....

When the lesson started everybody ......

The students were listening while the teacher......

When we arrived at the seaside....

1. Put the verb into the past continuous or past simple tense.
1. When we .............(go) out, it ...............(rain).
2. ..................(you/watch) television when I ......................(phone) you?
3. Jane wasn’t at home when I went to see her. She .................(work).
4. I ...........(get) up early this morning. I..............(wash), ..................(dress) and then I ...................(have) breakfast.
5. The postman ................(come) while I ...............(have) breakfast.
6. We .............(meet) Joan at the party. She................(wear) a red dress.
7. The boys .............(break) a window when they ..............(play) football.
8. I was late but my friends ................(wait) when I ................(arrive).
9. I ...............(get) up at 7 o’clock. The sun .............(shine), so I ................(go) for a walk.
10. He ...........(drive/not) fast when the accident .............(happen).
11. ‘What ..............(you/do) at 9.30 on Saturday evening?’ - ‘I .............(watch) a film in the cinema.’
12. I ............(call) Roger last night, but he ................(be/not) at home. He .............(study) in the library.
13. I ...........(hear/not) the thunder during the storm last night because I ...........(sleep).
14. It was beautiful yesterday when we went for a walk in the park. The sun ............... (shine). A cool breeze ...............(blow). The birds
.............. (sing).
15. I got a package in the mail. When I .............. (open) it, I ................(find) a surprise.
16. While Mrs. Emerson ..............(read) the little boy a story, he ..............(fall) asleep, so she ...............(close) the book and quietly
.............(tiptoe) out of the room.
17. I really enjoyed my vacation last January. While it ............(snow) in Iowa, the sun ...............(shine) in Florida. While you
............(shovel) snow in Iowa, I ................ (lie) on the beach in Florida.
18. Stanley .............. (climb) the stairs when he ..............(trip) and ...............(fall). Luckily, he ...............(hurt/not) himself.
19. It was my first day of class. I finally....................(find) the right room. The room .................(be, already) full of students. On one
side of the room, students ................. (talk, busily) to each other in Spanish. Other students .............(speak) Japanese and some
.................... (converse) in Arabic. It sounded like the United Nations. Some of the students, however, ..................(sit, just) quietly
by themselves. I ............... (choose) an empty seat in the last row and ...................(sit) down. In a few minutes the teacher
.................(walk) into the room and the multilingual conversation ................. (stop).

REMEMBER!

Do not use continuous tenses with the following verbs:

like, love, hate, want, need, prefer, know, realise, suppose, mean, understand, believe, remember, belong, contain, consist,
depend, seem, wish, respect, agree, forget,
PAST PERFECT vs PAST SIMPLE

HAD / HADN’T + VERB+ED / PAST PARTICIPLE FORM

e.g. HAD / HADN’T + ESCAPED / LEFT

EXAMPLES:

By the time the police arrived, the burglars had escaped.

When the teacher arrived, some students had left the classroom.

By midnight I had finished my homework.

COMPLETE THE SENTENCES:

By 3 o’clock yesterday I .......

When my parents came back home yesterday, I ......

By the time I turned 10 years old, I ....

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

1. When I arrived at the station, the train left.

When I arrived at the station, the train was leaving.
When I arrived at the station, the train had left.

2. My sister washed the dog when I came back home.

My sister was washing the dog when I came back home.
My sister had washed the dog when I came back home.

1. Put the verbs in brackets into past perfect or past simple.

1. When we _______(reach) the airport, we _______(find) that the plane _________(crash).
2. She ________(tell) me that she only once _______(see) a kangaroo in her life.
3. When the police _________(enter) the bank the robbers _________(already, escape).
4. By the time the ambulance _________(arrive) three people ________(die).
5. When I ________(get) on the train I __________(realise) that I _________(forget) my passport.
6. They _________(bring) in a patient who _______(swallow) a diamond ring.
7. When I ________(see) her I _______(be) sure that we _________(meet) before.
8. They _______(have) no money because they ________(spend) everything on duty free whisky.
9. She ________(watch) the film with interest because she ________(read) the book.
10. He _____(not, understand) a word until they _______(bring) an interpreter.
2. Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form using past simple, past perfect or past continuous.
1. By the time we .........................................(leave), the phone .............................................. (ring) three times. It was my
mother. She .................................................... (look for) my younger sister.
2. When I ..................................................(open) the box, I ............................................... (see) a small envelope. I was
disappointed when I .................................................. (learn) someone ...................................................... ( not, put) anything
inside.
3. I ...............................................(park) my car and ....................................................... (get off). It
........................................................ (not, rain) so I ..............................................(go) for a small walk.
4. What .................................................(you, do) when the thieves .................................................................. (steal) your car?
-I .......................................................(lie) on my bed and .......................................................... (take) a nap.
5. What ...............................................(you, do) when the thieves ..............................................................(steal) your car?
-I ........................................................(phone) the police and .......................................................(wait) for them to come.
6. When the ambulance ........................................................(arrive), the injured man ...............................................................
(not, breathe).
He ........................................................(die) a few minutes before.
7. The kids ...........................................................(play) outside when suddenly the wind
......................................................(start) blowing. In a few minutes it ......................................................(turn) into a violent
storm.
8. Why ...........................................................(you, be late) for our meeting yesterday? By the time you
.................................................(come), we .................................................(discuss) all the important topics.